James Nickells

Here is part 1 of my painting of Hanna. My subject for Country 61, Finland #portraitproject #inkportrait

I am so pleased to announce Hanna Hōijer as my portrait subject for country 61, Finland 🇫🇮 Hanna is a political advocate and climate activist who is now branching out in to using one of my favourite tools, storytelling, to enhance her work. There will be lots more about Hanna as the portrait develops #portraitproject

It’s been a while since I posted starting a new country. This has been more to do with me trying to reduce my social media interaction than pushing on with the project. To be honest, I am not actually on Day 1 and am a long way ahead with this portrait. I’m delighted to move on to Finland and another interesting route to my new subject which I will tell in a while #portraitproject

…and here is the masking tape peel for Litia’s final portrait 🇫🇯 #maskingtaperemoval

The full video showing the 6 minute timelapse film of Litia’s painting along with my full version of her story can now be seen on the Global Portrait Project YouTube channel.please visit, like and subscribe There is a link on the Fiji page of the website (link in bio) or by clicking on the link in the story highlighted above #inkportrait #portraitproject

My portrait subject for country 60, Fiji 🇫🇯 has been Litia Gaunavou. Litia’s environmental journey started at a very young age. Growing up she had always been cautious of how rubbish was disposed and disliked littering. Going through school and then in to higher education Litia studied Marine Science, having the goal, like many of us, of becoming a Marine Biologist. Again, like many of us that didn’t quite work out so Litia ventured into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Remote Sensing after graduating Remote sensing is the process of collecting data about the Earth from a distance, typically using satellites or aircraft to take pictures and measure surface features. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based tools that map, analyse, and manage this data, turning raw imagery into actionable insights for decision-making Litia’s current title is Geospatial Technical Officer, and she has worked on several thematic areas Litia worked on a project called “Adaptation to climate change through food security measures “– In this, she mapped out natural food sources such as Breadfruit and Pandanus for low lying islands and was piloted in Tarawa, Kiribati. This was mapped together with the Agriculture and Environment department in case supply of introduced food staples such as rice were interrupted due to extreme events that block out access to remote atolls in Kiribati. This would mean that the nation would rely on what is locally available but not managed and not fully utilized. Amongst all these and many other projects, one in particular goes closest to Litia’s heart. This was establishing the Pacific Geospatial Women Network (PGWN) and its aim is to nurture women to establish their career in this field. Together the network provides training to community-based women groups.

Part 3 of painting Litia, my portrait subject for country 60, Fiji 🇫🇯 Finally, after a troubling number of sessions, the portrait began to take shape and head towards a likeness #portraitproject #inkportrait

Part 2 of painting Litia, my portrait subject for Country 60, Fiji 🇫🇯 #inkportrait #portraitproject

Part 1 of painting Litia, my portrait subject for Country 60, Fiji 🇫🇯 Having not painted for a couple of months these first few underpainting sessions were quite challenging and I wasn’t sure the portrait would resolve in to a good likeness #portraitproject #inkportrait

I’m so pleased to announce my portrait subject for Country 60, Fiji 🇫🇯, is Litia Gaunavou who specialises in using remote sensing and geographic information systems to inform and direct many different projects including sustainable island agriculture and monitoring impacts of climate change. There will be more about Litia including her work with women’s groups as the portrait develops

Leaving countries beginning with E behind, I’m moving on to the first beginning with F and start with Fiji 🇫🇯 I was lucky enough to visit Fiji for a month back in 1994 and have fond memories of my time there. Bula Fiji!

I’ll be posting for Fiji shortly but before that I wanted to say a goodbye to the letter E and a thank you to all the wonderful people who agreed to be portrait subjects Nati from Ecuador 🇪🇨 @garnglobal @nataliagreene Sarah from Egypt 🇪🇬 @selbattouty Letty from El Salvador 🇸🇻 @theecotea Regina from Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶 @bristolzooproject The Macaroni Welder (whoever you may be) from Eritrea 🇪🇷 Zuzu from Estonia 🇪🇪 @zuzuizmailova Mdu from Eswatini 🇸🇿 @alloutafrica and Kitessa from Ethiopia 🇪🇹 @kitessahundera